Press Release: Civic Voice announces Joan Humble as new chair of its board

Joan Humble has been appointed Chair of Civic Voice, the national organisation for the country’s 500 civic Societies with over 75,000 individual members. She takes over from out-going chair, Freddie Gick, who stepped down at the Civic Voice Annual General Meeting after three years in post.

Current chair of Blackpool Civic Trust and a former Member of Parliament, Joan Humble has been involved in the civic movement for many years.

Speaking after her appointment she said:

‘My plan over the next three years will be to significantly raise the voice of the civic movement. People are disillusioned with politics but still want to have a voice in their local area. We want to make every civic society become part of Civic Voice and to be the place where people come together to speak about their town. I encourage all active citizens of England to join their local civic society and to help increase our collective voice.’

Following her appointment at the Civic Voice AGM, Mrs Humble set down an ambitious programme of work including:

Civic Voice will celebrate the 50 th anniversary of conservation areas as part of its Big Conservation Conversation;

The 2017 Sandys Lecture to be delivered by former Director General of the National Trust, Fiona Reynolds;

A programme of parliamentary meetings focusing on housing and communities;

The appointment of four new vice-presidents including Baroness Andrews and Sir Terry Farrell

Civic Voice’s Executive Director, Ian Harvey, said: “I am delighted to welcome Joan as our new chair. Her passion for the civic movement together with her skills and experiences of Parliament make her a perfect fit for the challenges that face us over the next years and I look forward to working with her as the movement progresses in exciting new directions.

“I would also like to thank Freddie Gick for the immense contribution he has made to Civic Voice over the many years he has been involved and wish him well in the future.”

NOTES FOR EDITORS

Civic Voice is the national charity for the civic movement. We work to make the places where everyone lives more attractive, enjoyable and distinctive and to promote civic pride. We speak up for civic societies and local communities across England. We believe everyone should live somewhere they can be proud of and we know how people feel about places because we feel the same way. Civic societies are the most numerous participants in the planning system. Since its launch in April 2010 Civic Voice has been joined by over 290 civic societies with 75,000 members. Civic Voice is supported in Parliament by the All Party Parliamentary Group for Civic Societies.

MEDIA INTERVIEWS ARE AVAILABLE VIA:

Ian Harvey, Civic Voice (m) 07877 096968 (t) 0151 707 4319

Joan Humble can be contacted in the first instance via ian.harvey@civicvoice.org.uk or on the phone number above.